PAYING FOR AIR: HOW CORRUPTION IS SUFFOCATING ZAMBIA’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY

EDITOR’S CHOICE – PAYING FOR AIR: HOW CORRUPTION IS SUFFOCATING ZAMBIA’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY

By Dr Mwelwa

Are we now a country that pays K75 million for nothing and calls it progress? How did a government that came to power on the promise of ending corruption allow such a scandal to pass under its nose? Is it true, as revealed by the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), that K75 million was paid to a company that did not do any work at all—not a single brick laid, not even a report submitted? And if this was part of a K350 million infrastructure contract, how was it possible that a massive upfront payment was made without any deliverables? Who authorized the disbursement, and where were the accountability systems that are supposed to prevent such losses?

What happened to the procurement controls, the due diligence, and the audit mechanisms? Was there any intention from the start to deliver the contracted services, or was this simply a sophisticated form of looting dressed up in paperwork? If the same company received another K45 million in a separate contract and still delivered nothing, is this a one-off mistake or part of a systemic pattern of financial abuse? Is this the kind of change Zambians voted for in 2021?

And while we are still processing this, what of the 88 ambulances that were reportedly procured under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for a whopping K336 million—yet as of today, only 11 have been delivered? What is the real story behind these delayed ambulances? Is it mere inefficiency, or is there something more sinister happening behind the scenes? If the supplier asked for a contract extension, who vetted the capacity of that supplier in the first place? Why was there no penalty clause to ensure delivery? Why did the Ministry of Health bypass open tender and resort to single-sourcing, a practice we were told would end under the New Dawn government?

Was the supplier connected to any political figures, and who is ultimately responsible for allowing contracts to be awarded to companies with no proven track record or capacity? Why did the government ignore its own procurement regulations and open the door to shadowy transactions benefiting a select few?

And if the FIC report now confirms that Zambia lost over US$3.5 billion in suspected illicit financial outflows in 2024 alone, where is that money going? Who are the real beneficiaries behind these offshore accounts, fake companies, and over-inflated contracts? Should we really be clapping for the IMF’s recent release of $184 million when we have lost nearly 20 times that amount in one year through corruption, fraud, and financial crimes?

Are we now a people so broken by political propaganda that we celebrate loans with interest while ignoring billions stolen without consequence? Should we not be asking why this government is constantly borrowing while its ministries are bleeding public resources into phantom projects? Are we truly on a path to economic transformation, or are we simply decorating our failures with international approval?

How long will Zambians be made to celebrate borrowed money while they are denied ambulances, medicines, clean water, and roads that were already paid for? When will the President address these specific scandals—not in vague speeches about corruption, but in clear terms naming who will be fired, investigated, and prosecuted? If accountability is only for past governments, what does that make this one—exempt, holy, or simply hypocritical?

Can we really say we are rebuilding the economy when we are bleeding it dry with every fraudulent contract and every invisible ambulance? Is the fight against corruption just another political slogan, or does it still mean something in today’s Zambia? If not now, when will the looting end—and who will finally stop it?